Monday, March 31, 2014

I'm down with PWE

That's PWE, not OPP.

There are a few PWE kings around the blogdom, but I've never gotten two PWE's from one person on the same day.  They were even mailed the same day for goodness sakes!

Jeff over at 2 X 3 Heroes dropped two in the box for me after I claimed a couple of unloved Trade Me Tuesday offerings.



The first group of cards was a 6-pack of 2011 Allen and Ginter Inserts.  I love these Floating Fortress cards.  There were 5 of these, including this Mary Rose.  The Mary Rose was one of the first ships to fire broadside cannons.  She is now serving as a museum in Portsmouth, England and celebrated her 500th birthday in 2012.




The Sovereign of the Seas launched in 1637 and carried 102 bronze guns.  She fought in several key battles, but burned down in 1697.




One of the Ginter cards was this Minds that Made the Future Michael Faraday cards.  I like this set for some reason.  This British chemist and physicist discovered electromagnetic induction.




I'm a sucker for a die cut card and I love shiny stuff so when Jeff posted these 2013 Topps Cut to the Chase cards, I jumped on them.




In addition to these two Rangers, I also scored three others that will be included in packages I'm sending out soon.

Jeff, I've got a few cards set aside for you and I'll be mailing them on my next trip to the post office!

I don't care if you don't like it, just do it

I don't know how many times my parents said that while I was growing up.  I do know they never said it to me.  I have two older brothers and they were the "bad" apples in the family.  Always in trouble at school, always talking back and always in my dad's cross hairs.

Well, I'm turning the tables a bit today and I'm telling you to go follow a Just Another Hockey Card Blog?

Say what???

It's no ordinary Hockey Card Blog.  It was recently started up by Robert from $30 a Week Habit.

You can even get in a contest supporting the new blog by going here.  The more people that follow the directions, the better the prize.  Don't delay.  The contest ends tonight at midnight.

Go forth and do what I say.   (Please.)

They don't all come out smelling like a rose

Three weeks ago, the one and only Night Owl pointed out something I'd noticed, but hadn't really thought much about.  He wrote about how the blogosphere is overrun with posts about success.  I think we like to write and read about a successful trade, break or pack rip.

I also know that I'm less likely to say "Hey, I bought a blaster and it sucked!"  I think the main reason is that those times when nothing good comes out of a pack or blaster is when I kick myself and ask "why did I waste that money?"  Do I really want to write about that?

Well, after reading about Night Owls hot box Heritage blaster, I thought I'd share the contents of my latest blaster.




That's my haul for $20 plus tax.  Two short prints and one blue variation.  I'd categorize that as a failed blaster.  Don't get me wrong, I like this set.  I want to collect this set so almost every card was new and needed.  The thing is, I could get the base set 1-425 for the same price as a blaster if I was just a little patient.

I still had fun opening the packs though.  That's always fun.

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Trouble in paradise

Last week's visit to my buddy's house came with a bit of drama.  I normally go on Thursdays, but he wasn't home.  I talked to him on the phone and he said I really needed to come by Friday if possible.  He had made a big deal on some cards and he wanted me to come by and get anything I wanted before the stuff got picked up.

Just so you know, all the stuff I've been looking through and buying from him is from a big collection he purchased in October.  He spent about $6000 acquiring the collection so it was pretty big.  Anyway, he made his money back pretty quick and has been sort of nickel and diming the rest out along the way.   That's basically what I've been doing since I first started going over there.  I'd spend $10 or $20 bucks at a time and just enjoy the time I spent talking cards with him.

I went over early Friday morning and he explained.  He had found someone who was going to buy the bulk of what he had left from that collection.  It amounted to 52 binders (most of which I hadn't had the chance to go through yet) and a dozen 5000 count boxes.  I had been through the boxes and most of the stuff I'd purchased to that point had been in the boxes. There was still a lot of good stuff in those boxes.  Probably 400-500 Topps Tek cards and at least 1000 other cards that I would have bought over time.  When I arrived, I told him I wasn't going to look through the stuff he had sold.  The buyer had made a deal based on what was left so I didn't want to take something he was counting on getting in the deal.  My buddy told me the guy hadn't gone through the 5000 count boxes so I could pull stuff from there if I wanted.

I really didn't feel comfortable doing that because that guy had already made a deal for that stuff.  I went through a couple of boxes my friend had held back and pulled around 150 cards.  Mostly Rangers stuff I didn't know if I needed or not and a few cards for deals I have in the works.

I ended up spending $50 this trip because I didn't know if any of this stuff would be available next week. My friend felt bad that he'd sold all the other stuff and I told him not to worry about it.  He bought that stuff to sell and that's what he should do if the opportunity was there.

He gave me two cards for free because he's a good guy.



This 2005 UD Origins Ivan Rodriguez jersey isn't something I'd buy, but it does go with my Pudge collection so I took it.




He also gave me this 2002 Team Topp Legends Harmon Killebrew auto.  I told him he didn't have to give me the card, but he didn't think I had gotten enough stuff for my $50 and wanted to throw it in the deal. Who am I to argue?

In addition to the 150 or so cards. the 2000 Fleer Tradition Glossy set I previously posted and a couple of small binders that weren't included in his deal with the other guy, I got this page.




My buddy told his buyer that he had someone who was buying all the vintage Nolan Ryan's so that wasn't included in the deal.  I was that someone and I was so happy to find out he had saved these for me.  I decided to bite the bullet and buy them all at once.  The page has the 1972-1976 Topps Ryans.  You might notice the empty slots for the 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1971 Ryans.  Those slots are empty because I already bought them.  They were all posted here as well.  Adding up the money I spent on the first four, these 9 cards set me back a total of $81. I could get more than that for the 1968 Ryan.

My one true regret is that he had a Hank Aaron binder that was just like the Ryan binder.  It had every regular Topps issued Aaron from 1954 to 1976.  I know full well I would have gotten as good a deal as I did with the Ryans.  I will never have that opportunity again.

My friend is looking to buy another collection.  I told him to buy one with a 1956 Topps set in a binder. Until he finds another deal, I'll be searching through the inventory he had when he closed his shop.  I have no idea what I'll find and he doesn't really know either.

It should be a lot of fun..


Friday, March 28, 2014

I got a superstar Hot Box

Yesterday I threw up a quick post when I stumbled across a Heritage Blaster at Walmart.  I was beginning to wonder if Topps was making Heritage blasters this year since the rack packs had been out for a while before the blasters hit the shelf.

I teased that I had a decent hit in the box, but since I was posting it from my phone, I could only put up one image.

The two best cards in the box were of the same superstar so I guess that makes it a hot box of sorts.




The blaster had one Walmart blue parallel and it was Andrew McCutchen.  I also hit a gold relic of Cutch. These are numbered out of 99 and mine is #67/99.  The gold relics are supposed to be a 1:750 pack hit so that's pretty good.

I'm listing the relic on Ebay today to help pay for the blaster and I'll be sending the blue parallel to Bob Walk the Plank if he wants it.  I got another package from him yesterday so I need to round up so more Pirates.  I noticed as I perused the blogroll yesterday that Bob sent out a number of packages.  He's been a busy guy.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Heritage Blasters are here




I found them at Walmart. I couldn't resist and bought one. Had a decent hit too. I'll show you that later.

And yes, I opened it in the car.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Should I break this up?

I got a good news/bad news call from my LCS buddy the other day.  I'll expound on that tomorrow because I have no time this morning.

I did pick up something cheap on my last visit.  





That's a 2000 Fleer Tradition Glossy Set.  They made 10000 of these and this one is #636.  Each set came with one Lumberjack bat card and 5 serial numbered Rookies.  This one has no bat card and no serial numbered rookies, but it's a complete base set of 450 cards.  I'm debating whether I should keep the set or break it up to mail out to my team collector buds.  Leave a comment telling me what to do with my Glossy set.  Yea, I just opened that can of worms.



Also, if anyone needs any 2011 or 2013 Topps Chrome or Allen and Ginter, let me know.  I'm doing some sorting and have a box full of dupes from these two sets.


Monday, March 24, 2014

My other hobby



I'm going to tell you what my other hobby is, but first I want to go through the other hobbies that people guessed in the weekend contest.  I'll also give my thoughts on your guesses.

1.  Woodworking (3 people guessed this one)--way too labor intensive and I don't have the patience for it. I'd love to have those skills, but anyone that knows me personally would say, "No, not him."

2.  Model Rockets (1 guess)--I thought the movie October Sky was good, but not my cup of tea.  Tea isn't my hobby either.

3.  Noodling (1 guess)--I know what noodling is and although I love a good plate of fried catfish, I AM NOT sticking my arm down the mouth of one.



4.  Model ship/sub building (2 guesses)--Again, two detail oriented, but I would love to have a model of my submarine in a bottle.

5.  Jetskiing (1)--Nope.  I'm not a thrill junkie although I've ridden on a SeaDoo a couple of times.

6.  Plastic models (1)--My son went through a phase where he wanted to build models so I helped them.  Too much detail for me.  Plus, I have big clumsy fingers so those small pieces drove me nuts.

7.  Stamp collecting (6)--This was the most popular hobby for you guys to guess. Someone bought me a stamp collecting kit when I was a kid.  It had a whole bunch of stamps in it, but once I discovered it didn't have that upside down airplane stamp that was worth a bazillion dollars in it, the whole kit ended up in the back of my closet.

8.  Rodeo clowning (1)--I may live in Texas, but I don't do rodeos, I don't have a cowboy hat and I haven't been near a horse since I was a kid.  I've ridden more elephants and camels in my life than horses.

9.  Comic book collecting (1)--I had a good sized collection of comics when I was a kid, but I didn't take good care of them.  I swapped them around with a few other guys and after awhile I got tired of them.  I briefly got back into comics in the early 1990's, but it didn't last long.

10. Collecting vintage 45s (1)--By the time I started buying my own music, it was all cassette tapes for me.  Up until a year or so ago, I had about 300 old 45s, but they belonged to my wife's mother and weren't worth anything.  I tried to sell them for her, but couldn't get anything for them.

11. Sailing (1)--Way to expensive and I spend enough time UNDER the water, I don't need to be on it now.

12. Home brewing (1)--I'm not much of a drinker.  I have maybe 6 beers a year.  My father was an alcoholic and while he didn't touch a beer for the last 20 years of his life, I saw it enough of the bad side as a youngster that I just avoided it for the most part.

13. Old school video games (1)--I played Modern Warfare 3 so much I was sacrificing sleep.  Once I got tired of that I pretty much stopped playing altogether.  Sleep is more important.

14. Archery (1)--Nope.  I do think Darrell is pretty bad-ass with that crossbow on The Walking Dead.

15. Military figures (1)--No, but I like this one.  I'd do the Civil War re-enactment set up I think, but I could never paint those little figures.  I still have those big clumsy fingers.

16. Hunting (2)--I did hunt some when I was younger.  My dad was a hunter and we ate what he killed.  I don't hunt anymore and haven't been hunting in over 20 years.

17. Model cars (1)--This could have been lumped in with #6 above, but it was a bit more specific.  I still don't do it.

18. Beer bottle caps (1)--See #12 above.  I have seen a picnic table that was covered with 100's of beer bottle caps.  It was very interesting.

19. Plane spotting (1)--No.  I don't know what else to say about this one.  I once saw three F-16 fighters doing refueling exercises and that was cool.

20. R/C cars (1)--My kids have a couple of R/C cars, but nothing fancy.

21. Fishing (2)--I take the boys fishing from time to time, but I'm not very good at it so they don't have much interest.  I did catch a fish thisssssssssssssssss big once.

22. Cooking (3)--I didn't consider this one, but I love to cook.  I cook about 95% of the meals in my house and if I could afford to go to culinary school, I would.  I don't have any interest in cooking professionally,  but I do like to try new stuff.  Since I do this one out of obligation as well, I don't consider it a hobby.

23. Political memorabilia (1)--This one intrigues me, but I can't afford to start something new.

24. Historical stuff (1)--This one came the closest to be correct, but missed out on the real action.

25. Die cast cars (2)--I have a big box of Hot Wheels that belonged to my boys and I won't get rid of them. They have all been played with so it's not like they are worth anything, but I have so many good memories associated with playing with them and the boys that I want to keep them.

26. Action Figures (1)--See #25.  We still have all my older son's Star Wars figures.

27. Spelunking (1)--See #5.  I'm too big a wuss.  I didn't get claustrophobic on the submarine, but I don't want to go down into some cave.

28. Painting (1)--I'm the least artistic person I know.  We did paint my son's room last week, but I hated it and I'm sure that's not what the guesser meant.

29. Collecting autographs (1)--I was very into collecting autographs for awhile.  I requested many autos TTM from celebrities back in the 90's and sometimes got lucky enough to get some in person.  I posted many of those back in 2012.  I don't do that anymore, but here is a link to my favorite.

30. Taxidermy (2)--Eww, seriously?  So gross.



31. Guitar (1)--I wish I could play the guitar AND the piano.  I would need a Bill Murray Groundhog Day type experience for that to ever happen.

32. Photography (1)--I have a really nice Nikon camera I got for my 40th birthday.  Like the guitar, I'd love to be able to amazing photos, but I need the Groundhog Day experience.  I really enjoy taking pictures, but I don't consider it a hobby.  Maybe I should.

33. Yo-Yos (1)--Walking the dog is not for me.  I've had yo-yos over the years, but I always got frustrated with them before I learned how to do anything.

34. Bird watching (1)--No patience for that.

35. Model trains (2)--I always liked the idea of model trains and I've seen some amazing displays, but I don't have the proper space for my cards so I sure don't have room for a track layout.

36. Bicycling (1)--I have a bike.  I ride my bike.  I don't like riding my bike.  I should ride my bike more.

37. Military patches (1)--Now your talking.  I don't collect military patches, but I may start.  I like that idea a lot.

38. Old movies (1)--I like movies and my two favorite movies of all time are Braveheart and Saving Private Ryan.  I don't collect movies though.  My youngest son always gives me grief for liking stuff from the "1900's".  He was born in 2002.

39. Belt buckles (1)--See #8 above.  I love Texas and other than the slight hiccup that caused my birth to take place in Minnesota, I consider myself a Texan.  I don't do boots, cowboy hats or big Texas belt buckles.

40. Rodeo (1)--See #39.

41. Boffering (1)--I have to be honest, I thought this was a joke and an attempt to get me to do a search for a NSFW activity while I was at work.  I now know what this is and I do not do it.

42. Miltaria (1)--This might have fit in with a couple of others, but I thought it deserved it's own line.  I could see getting into collecting Miltaria items.  If it wasn't for all the things I have to spend my money on like the mortgage and food.

43. Knife collecting (1)--Never thought much about this one.  I have a few old pocketknives from my dad and grandpa, but I keep those because they have some sentimental value.

44. Elongated pennies (1)--My two boys went through a phase where they wanted elongated pennies from any tourist destination we might happen to see.  I remember they got quite a few of these at Disney World. I never got into them myself and they probably couldn't tell you where any of their pennies are located.

45.  LAST, but NOT LEAST!  R/C Airplane/Helicopter (1)--Time and money would prevent me from this one even if I wanted to do it.

I got involved in my other hobby back in early 1995.  I was a 24 year old, single college student.  I started the hobby because of something I witnessed one day in 1994 while I was still in the Navy stationed in Hawaii.  My friend's dad came to visit from California.  He brought a metal detector with him and in about 4 hours of hunting the beach, he found over $500 worth of gold jewelry.  I thought, wow, that was easy.

I didn't have time to pick up the hobby then, but when my enlistment was up and I went home, I had the time and money to get started.




 I've owned three different metal detectors in my life.  This is the one I currently own and I've had it since 1996.  I detected quiet a bit from 1995 to 1998.  I slowed down a bit and stopped altogether once my oldest son was born in 2000.  I didn't really have the time anymore and didn't go out at all until my younger son showed an interest in early 2013.  His interest quickly waned, but my interest was renewed and I've been doing it on and of again for the last year.




These are a few of the better coins I've found.  The two 1964 silver half dollars were in the same hole.  The Standing Liberty Quarter is from the 1920's.  The Barber dime is from 1915 and the Indian Head Penny is from 1894.

I've found almost $1000 in coins.  I ususally clean and cash in the regular coins, but I keep all the old silver coins and old pennies.




This is what a silver quarter looks like when you dig it up.




One of the highlights of the hobby is when you find a piece of jewelry.  Especially when it's gold.  This is a great sight.  




This the gold ring from the earlier picture.  I've found a bit of gold jewelry, mostly in my early years of detecting.  I sold most of it back when gold was at $1700/ounce.

Metal detecting is generally seen as an old man's hobby, but that's a bit of a stereotype.  The best thing I ever found was a great friend and hunting partner named Jack.  He was retired and we would go out hunting a couple of days a week.  When he passed away, I took it really hard and that was another reason I quit the hobby for so long.

I get just as excited when I find an old silver coin as I do when I pull a Rangers hit from a pack.  Generally, the silver coin is actually worth more than the hit anyway.

So that's my other hobby.  I like it because it gives me some quiet time.  It can be rewarding if you get lucky and it's decent exercise too.




A Weekend Winner Announcement



Sorry for the long delay in announcing the winner of the Weekend Contest.  You remember, the one where you had to guess my other hobby.

I got bronchitis last week and I was pretty out of it for the last part of the week and the weekend.

I have a rather long post about my other hobby which I'll post later today.  It won't be about baseball cards, but I hope you'll read it anyway.

I wanted to go ahead and announce the winner of the 2014 Heritage Rack Pack.  Since no one guessed correctly, I randomized everyone for each entry they had.  The winner is...





Congrats to Brian Conrad.  Brian, please email me your address so I can get this pack out to you.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Have you ever seen a card that made you want to stop collecting?

Well, I just did.

Take a look at this atrocity.




One of the greatest Texas Rangers of all time.  One of the best catchers in the history of Major League Baseball.

In a Yankees uniform.

There is nothing worse than seeing one of your favorite baseball players in that uniform.

I bought a card off Ebay and the seller used about 10 other cards as packing material, including this one.  I had never seen this before and now I just can't un-see it.


We have one thing in common

It's a strange thing to write a blog post, put it out there for anyone to read and not really know who is looking at it unless they comment.  Oh, I know there are ways to track such things, but really, who has time for such a thing.

Every once in a while you get one of those wonderful little emails from someone who says "Hello, I've been reading your blog for a while now and have a few cards on your want list to send you.  What is your mailing address?"

Isn't that nice?  That came from Brady over at Yadier Molina Baseball Cards.  Brady started his blog in early February and while he is a St. Louis Cardinals fan, he tends to focus on Yadier Molina cards.  Well, I have to get behind anyone who collects a catcher.  Brady also collects 1966 Topps so if you have to send him, check out his list.

Let's just get on to what I care about most, Texas Rangers goodies.




I was hoping this would scan better, but it obviously didn't.  It's a 1984 7-11 Slurpee Buddy Bell coin.  If I remember correctly, these came stored under a disc on the bottom of the cups.




We move from Slurpee coins to Slides.  Hey, come look at slides from my vacation!




Josh has lost some of his Sparkle since leaving the Rangers.




I've been calling these things Liquorfractors so long that I forgot what they're really called.




The Orange Dutchman.




A one and done and a back injury waiting to happen.  *Crosses fingers that Matt Harrison stays healthy*




I was listening to one of the Rangers' spring training games on the radio the other day and they said Jason Frasor wants to get into the radio side of baseball after he retires.  He's one of the few healthy, consistent Rangers pitchers right now so I hope that doesn't happen too soon.

Remember way back at the top of this post when I said Brady was collecting 1966 Topps?  He must have had some dupes because he sent me a bunch of Senators.




Buster is a great name for a 1960's pitcher.  It's a terrible name for a catcher...cough cough.




That's the way a good old vintage checklist should look.  Unfortunately whoever used this didn't have #288 which is the Don Sutton Rookie Card.




Frank may look like an accountant, but on July 2, 1965 he threw a 3 hit, 10 K shutout against the Tigers and also hit a two-run homer.  You have to love a pitcher who helps out his own cause like that. (I'm an AL guy, but I wish the DH would go away.  It's ridiculous that you have two different rules for the AL and NL when it comes to something that important.)



Jim was only 33 in this picture, but he looks older to me.  It's good to be the KING!

Brady, thanks for the great cards, especially the vintage Senators.  I'll be on the lookout for some Molina's for you.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

OMG it's O-Pee-Chee

I don't give vintage O-Pee-Chee the attention I should.  O-Pee-Chee is one of the brands I don't have a Rangers checklist for and maybe I'll fix that one day.  Thankfully, Jim from GCRL is looking out for me.




He sent over a package of cards while I was on vacation and one of the cards he included was this 1973 O.P.C. Texas Ranges team card.  He included a note that said "Don't forget to respect the O-Pee-Chee."  He's right of course.




He sent over a number of cards that were new to me.  I don't recall ever seeing this 1993 Pacific Beisbol Amigos card which includes Julio Franco, Jose Canseco and Rafael Palmeiro.




If you never got to see Ivan Rodriguez gun down a runner in person, you missed out.




Reggie, Reggie, Reggie.  You are not allowed to bowl over the catcher.   At least not this year.




Oooh, purple!  I like purple refractors.



Next to the vintage O-Pee-Chee, this is my favorite card of the package.  This is my first 2012 Panini Cooperstown Field Generals card and I want them ALL!  I know it's Panini, but I love this little set of catchers and need to track the rest of them down.  There are 9 others so it shouldn't be that hard.

Jim, thanks for a great package and some good advice.


A Tale of Two Breaks

I have a hate/hate relationship with Panini.  I'm not a fan of logo-less cards and I generally think their baseball card designs are somewhat lacking in...oh I don't know, let's call it "look-a-bility." Yea, that's it.  I struggle with my "ability" to look at their baseball cards because the designs aren't good.

When I saw Panini was coming out with Donruss again I have to say I was looking forward to it.  Something different, yet familiar.  Something that, if done right, might make me start to overlook the lack of a license.  I was looking forward to it so much that I bought in to two different Donruss breaks.

The first break was being held by Brent of BrentandBecca.  Most everybody knows Brent as the guy who breaks a UPS truckload of cases of new product and sells like crazy on Ebay.  I don't know how many group breaks he does, but I think this Donruss break might have put a stop to it.  I bought the Rangers in his 16 box case break.  It cost me $40.  That's roughly the same price two blasters would cost (if they sold blasters).

The second break I bought into was being held by Colbey over at Cardboard Collections.  His break was $13 for a pick a team/get a random team type break of two Donruss boxes.

If I asked you to guess which break gave me the best results, I think most of you would say the 16 box break.  Well, you'd be wrong.  I know box/case breaks are a gamble.  You're not guaranteed anything, no matter how many boxes are involved.  You should be able to expect some sort of reasonable collation.

Let's start with the 16 box case break by Brent.  Let me also start by saying the criticism you read here is in no way directed at Brent.  He busts a TON of product.  I've purchased from him on Ebay several times.  He ships quick and charges a fair price for shipping.  Any critical remarks are directed squarely at Panini.

I didn't get to watch the break live, but I did watch it later.  I kept track of the hits, but I've since misplaced that list.  I remember Brent got three of the same Box Toppers in a row (Zimmerman).  He even pulled the same redemption for an Evan Gattis auto in back to back boxes.  As for Rangers, this is what I got.




I got the Jurickson Profar box topper.  I was hoping to get this one and was fortunate Brent pulled it from the 2nd or 3rd box.




I got 4 complete Texas Rangers team sets and plenty of other duplicates.




I got one serial numbered card which was this Adrian Beltre Press Proof #86/199.  There were a good number of serial numbered cards in the case, but they were the same players over and over.




The duplicate relics in the break were ridiculous.  I scored two Ian Kinsler Game Gear relics.  The number of players that showed up repeatedly was very disappointing and if you watch the video of the break, you can here it in Brent's voice.




I managed to get one auto of Michael Choice.  I was happy to get it the way the break went.  I think there were three Dave Parker autos in the break and if my memory is correct, the Pirates did pretty well in the break.

The "best" card in the case was some Edwin Encarnacion relic card #/25.  If that's a case hit then Panini sucks even more than I thought.

I was happy enough with the design of the base cards.  I've never been a huge fan of cards featuring the backs of players, but I know that's easier to show without getting any logos in the way.

Let's move on to the two box break held by Colbey.




I scored an Elite Dominators Nolan Ryan #696/999.  This was one of the cards I wanted most.




I also got a Michael Choice Rated Rookie Gold Press Proof #54/99.




Colbey pulled two Rangers autos in two boxes.  First up was Mitch Moreland.  That would sure look nice with an on-card auto.



The second auto of the break was Jurickson Profar.  After the Brent break, I didn't expect one auto from Colbey, much less two.

I did get another team set from Colbey's break.

That's the story of two different breaks of the same product.  I wish Panini's collation had been better on Brent's case, but what can you do?  It is what it is and you take your chances anytime you get in a break. I'd do another break with Brent if and when the burn of this one goes away.  I'd also do another one with Colbey.  He sure got some good Rangers boxes for this one.


Tuesday, March 18, 2014

I need a Nap

Bloggers come and go.  If you've been around more than a few weeks, you've witnessed a blog go dark.  If you've been around longer, you've seen a lot of them go dark.  It's always a little sad to see someone hang it up, but every one of us will do it eventually.  Some bloggers just disappear without a trace.  Some, like the one and only Napkin Doon, are kind enough to let us down easy.

Nap decided to end his Adventure after three years of entertaining us.  I know I wanted to visit Cleve's card shop to see what kind of goodies would be auctioned off.  The fact that Nap collected Rangers may have contributed to my bias for his blog.

Just before Nap signed off, he emailed me and asked if I had any Etopps cards. I told him I didn't think so, but I did have a dormant account with Etopps.  He said he would send me something.

In all honesty, I sort of forgot about it because I had a week of vacation coming and that had most of my attention.

One of the 12 packages I had waiting for me upon my return from vacation was from Nap.  If anyone asks now if I have any Etopps cards, the answer will be a resounding yes.

These didn't scan well because they are encased in an industrial strength hunk of plastic.  Still, I present them in all their chunky glory.





This 2004 Michael Young is a "Limited Edition of 2004".  I don't care about the other 2003 of these, but I sure appreciate having just one.




This is a 2005 Texas Rangers team card.  I recognize Kenny Rogers, Alfonso Soriano, Mark Teixiera and Hank Blalock.  I'm not sure about the other two guys.



Last, but certainly not least, we have a 2009 Ian Kinsler.  This one is #298/749.  This is my favorite of the bunch.  It's a nice picture and a simple design.

Nap, we miss you already even though it's only been two weeks.  Thanks for the great cards and more importantly, sharing 3 years of Adventures with us.